A Day to Remember
by Kumoru
Summary: Contains spoilers. Rolo's thoughts during R2 Turn 19, bringing the bond between Rolo and Lelouch to light. Oneshot. Please read!


A Day to Remember

Warning: Spoilers!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

Author's note: This fanfic is my interpretation of Rolo's thoughts during R2, Turn 19, aka the day he dies. D: I used the dialogue as exactly as I thought was appropriate. :3 Hopefully, this isn't OOC. Enjoy! (By the way, for those who don't know, Rolo's brother equals Lelouche.) Oneshot.

- R2 : 19 –

_I remember talking to Jeremiah on the phone. _"I'll be right beside my brother," I assured him. Everything would be all right. As I spoke, I was smiling a little in my heart, even though I knew brother was in deep pain. He would be fine because he had me, and always would. That was what I truly thought.

That we were brothers.

My brother grabbed the phone from my hand. He said, "Why do you have this?" At first, I did not catch the meaning. He had given it to me for my birthday, several months ago. But brother's eyes held no sympathy, only anger and madness. Not a joke.

Instantly, I could tell he spoke seriously, but how could I believe his words, when his eyes flashed, half-crazed with grief? Yet he was my big brother. Little brothers were supposed to follow the elder ones- me especially because he was all I had in the world. I had long since accepted his command. Right now, I wanted to answer him in equivalent sincerity, but I knew not what to say.

Then he murmured, "I was going to give this to Nunnally- my sister Nunnally! Did you think you can replace her?" He was shouting now, "You damned imposter!" and threw the phone to the ground.

A tune began to play from the yellow-and-white hearted charm. I doubt that brother remembered what had happened the first time he remarked on the heart-shaped charm. He had offered to exchange it, but I had refused to let him do it. Why? And when I encountered him later, with a gun in my hand, he told me calmly that although we were not brothers by blood, the memories we shared were very real. Spending time, laughing together, spying on each other- those were the kinds of things brothers did, I surmised. Those memories we shared, I had realized, made us true brothers.

I wanted to deny what he said, I wanted to tell him, "But I'm not an imposter." I forgot how to use my voice. His words had stung me so. Even if they were not true, I was supposed to believe him, as the little brother.

The music continued to play. He whispered, "You still haven't noticed? I hate you." Then shouted, "I goddamn hate you! I tried to kill you many times, and I just kept missing my chance."

I wanted him to stop - "Brother…" I said.

But he cut me off. "Get out of here. Don't show yourself before me again! Get out!"

Brother… was throwing me away?

I did as he ordered me to do and ran.

Sprinting down the hall, not caring where I ended up, I felt a strange numbing in my eyes. Was I crying? Tools did not cry. Right. I collected myself. I was a tool to be used, and there was no usefulness in crying. I decided to think through this confusion.

"What am I to brother?" I wondered. "A tool, or a true brother?" I was silly. I was obviously both. Right?

Big brother pushed me away. He wanted us to stop being brothers, I assumed. However, he could not just command that of me. Just as I could not simply shoot away our memories, he could not order me to stop caring for him as a brother.

He had told me to stop coming to him, so I was probably no longer his tool. That was fine. I used to think that my sole goals were whatever my master asked of me, that there was no such thing as growing to like someone, that caring for people was senseless and illogical. Now, despite being relieved of my duty, I had something to do. Even though I was stripped of my missions and work, I still had a reason for living.

Protect my brother. That was what brothers did, right? I needed nothing else.

I would be… I admitted… sad if something awful happened to brother. Killing people did not make me sad. Being used cruelly as a tool did not bring me to cry. If losing my big brother did, it meant that he was more important to me than everything else.

So why was I running around the airship? "Stupid me, I should be by his side-"

I turned a corner and almost ran into Ougi. He was speaking frantically to a cell phone. Though he hushed his voice, I understood what he demanded of brother's- of Zero's- followers and almost killed the man right then and there. "This is important," he mumbled quickly, "Listen. Don't tell anyone else. The troops should not know right now- it would throw us into chaos. Zero has been using us, and we have proof of it. Please believe me. We are planning to kill him- Yes, in the hangar where we keep the Knightmares. No, I can't stop it, why the hell would I?" The irritated Ougi passed me, as if I were invisible. In his haste, he had overlooked me. "Besides, Kallen is bringing him there as we speak. Just make sure nobody goes into the hangar- got it?" He turned off the cell phone and huffed away.

I ran for the hangar. My only concern was that if I did not hurry, brother would…

… If I killed every enemy in the hangar, there were still others that knew- the receiver of the phone call, for instance. They wanted to kill him; even if I snatched him away and ran for it, they would eventually find and capture us. We could go nowhere on foot. So I stole one of the Knightmares. I did not have much experience with them, since my jobs had mostly been quiet assassination and spying as a double agent. But it did not matter because I knew enough to take brother far, far away.

I froze the people around me and brought the Knightmare into the air. Brother stood alone against his enemies. The odds were not in his favor, but he seemed happy with the result nonetheless. Liar, he expected to die, was resigned to it. I would not let him. I flew the Knightmare in front of him, as my Geass's effect wore off. "Fire!" A round of gunshots hit the Knightmare.

"Are you okay?" I asked my brother.

"Rolo?" He seemed surprised. I had disobeyed him for the first time, after all. Never show my face to him again? He was no longer my master.

"I will protect brother." And used my Geass again.

This time I froze a larger section of the ship. I carried him outside, careful to keep him in the hands of the Knightmare. "Stop, Rolo! It's enough!" No, it was not. A sudden series of missiles hit us from behind. The others were giving chase, then. I knew with clearer certainty that I could not let him go.

"Calculations for the Absolute Protection Territory were this complicated?" I muttered, pressing what I hoped were the correct buttons. I smiled, this time out of pride and awe. "You are amazing, brother."

"Rolo," my brother shouted from outside, "I don't have any reason to live anymore." I ignored him. Of course he had a reason for life- he had to live because I wanted him to! The Knightmare detected more incoming missiles, and I used my Geass repeatedly, thinking, "I won't let them kill you, not ever!"

Before I noticed it, brother had climbed up to the head of the machine and opened it to reveal the cockpit. He clambered in and shut it. "Using your Geass with this much range… Rolo, at this rate, you won't be able to handle it!"

More and more enemies appeared on the radar. The Knightmare accumulated damage, and once, a thunderous crash sent me reeling and the cell phone flying from my pocket. I focused my attention on the screen before me. It displayed the Knightmare's condition. At this rate, we might crash. But I had to keep brother alive… my skills as pilot could not prevent us from getting hit again, but my Geass could help a bit. I could evade their shots, as long as I used my Geass.

From somewhere beside me, my brother was saying, "It's enough. I no longer-"

"No, brother," I assured him, "you – "

"Stop!"

I activated the Geass. I knew he did not hear me, but I told him anyway. "I have always been someone's tool." I sent several missiles to the aircrafts behind us.

The Geass wore off. "Rolo! For someone like me, why are you-"

I used it again. "I was a tool of the Order."

"Saving me? I've – "

"Then, I became brother's tool. Yes, I might have been just a tool in the end, but the time I spent with you was genuine." I looked at him; he could not have looked back at me. Already, my heart was ready to die.

"-been using-"

I fired more missiles at the enemies below. Everyone that tried to kill him, I killed first. I clenched my shirt, as the pain began to pound. "Thanks to those memories, I am finally … human!"

I started coughing. Too late, he saw my weakened state. "-you… Rolo!" His voice was shot with alarm and concern.

"So now," I grimaced, through coughs, "I-"

"Stop!" He was screaming at me. "Don't use your Geass! Do you want to die?" I gathered strength and used the Geass one more time.

"I am… not a… tool… This is my own will!" I did this for brother.

I killed what seemed like the last group standing in our way. I had little energy left, so I brought the Knightmare down as gently as I could manage. My heart's pulse faded, but I did not hurt anymore.

After we had landed, my brother asked me, "Rolo, why did you save me? I used you."

"Brother, you're a liar," I told him instead. "You lied, right? That you wanted to kill me … that you hated me … "

"I see. You saw through my lies." His expression softened for the first time that day. "You really are my little brother."

I tried to answer his smile. I believed I succeeded. "That's right. I know everything about you … brother." I closed my eyes. I was aware that brother sat beside me, watching with a genuine smile. Brother was safe, and I was where I should be, right next to him.

Everything was okay.

- Fin -


End file.
